Fire Starting Assembly

ABSTRACT

A fire starting assembly receives and ignites charcoal and releases the charcoal when its temperature is suitable for cooking. It has a housing that is bound by a perimeter wall with an upper edge defining an upper opening and a lower edge defining a lower opening. A grate, located closer to the lower edge than the upper edge, is pivotally joined to the perimeter wall. The grate, in its closed position, intersects a lumen extending through the housing and through the openings defined by the upper and lower edges to hold charcoal. The grate, in its open position, releases the charcoal. A catch is releasably engaged with the grate to retain the grate in the closed position. The catch is releasable from the grate such that the grate pivots downwardly toward the lower edge and through the lower opening to define an open position.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Field of the Disclosure

The disclosure relates to fire starting devices and more particularlypertains to a new fire starting device that receives and ignitescharcoal and releases the charcoal when the charcoal has reached atemperature suitable for cooking.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above bygenerally comprising a housing that has a perimeter wall with an upperedge that defines an upper opening and a lower edge that defines a loweropening extending into the housing. The perimeter wall has front wall,rear wall, a first lateral wall and a second lateral wall. The perimeterwall has an inner surface and an outer surface. A grate is pivotallyjoined to the perimeter wall and is positioned nearer to the lower edgethan the upper edge. An upper portion of the housing is defined betweengrate and the upper edge and a lower portion of the housing is definedbetween the grate and the lower edge. The grate is in a closed positionintersecting a lumen extending through the housing and through theopenings defined by the upper and lower edges to hold charcoal and is inan open position to release the charcoal. A catch is releasably engagedwith the grate to retain the grate in the closed position. The catch isreleasable from the grate such that the grate pivots downwardly towardthe lower edge and through the lower opening to define an open position.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the disclosure in order that the detailed descriptionthereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that thepresent contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There areadditional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafterand which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features ofnovelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out withparticularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of thisdisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than thoseset forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to thefollowing detailed description thereof. Such description makes referenceto the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top isomeric of a fire starting assembly according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a bottom isomeric view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through5 thereof, a new fire starting device embodying the principles andconcepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated bythe reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, the fire starting assembly 10generally comprises a housing 12 that includes a perimeter wall 14having an upper edge 16 that defines an upper opening 18 and a loweredge 20 that defines a lower opening 22 extending into the housing 12.The perimeter wall has front wall 24, rear wall 26, a first lateral wall28 and a second lateral wall 30. The perimeter wall 14 has an innersurface 32 and an outer surface 34. The housing 12 is made of sheetmetal.

A grate 36 is pivotally joined to the perimeter wall 14. The grate 36 ispositioned nearer to the lower edge 20 than the upper edge 16. An upperportion 38 of the housing 12 is defined between grate 36 and the upperedge 16 and a lower portion 40 of the housing 12 is defined between thegrate 36 and the lower edge 20. The grate 36 is positioned in a closedposition intersecting a lumen extending through the housing 12 andthrough the upper 18 and lower 22 openings defined by the upper 16 andlower 20 edges to hold charcoal. The grate 36 is positioned in an openposition to release the charcoal. The grate 36 is in a horizontalorientation and the perimeter wall 14 is vertically oriented when thegrate 36 is in the close position. The grate 36 is pivotally coupled tothe first lateral wall 28 and extends to the second lateral wall 30 whenthe grate 36 is in the closed position.

A catch 42 is releasably engaged with the grate 36 to retain the grate36 in the closed position. The catch 42 is releasable from the grate 36such that the grate 36 pivots downwardly toward the lower edge 20 andthrough the lower opening 22 to define an open position. The catch 42comprises a pin 44 that is positioned in an engaged position extendingthrough the perimeter wall 14 and engages the grate 36 to retain thegrate 36 in the closed position. In a disengaged position, the pin 44 isremoved from the perimeter wall 14 and disengaged from the grate 36. Thepin 44 is extendable through the second lateral wall 30 and ispositioned under and abutted against the grate 36 when the pin 44 is inthe engaged position.

A handle assembly 46 is attached to the outer surface 34 of theperimeter wall 14. The handle assembly 46 includes an upper armcomponent 48, a lower arm component 50 and a grip 52. The grip 52 isattached to and extends between the upper 48 and lower 50 armcomponents. The handle assembly 46 is attached to the second lateralwall 30 between the pin 44 and the upper edge 16. A tether 54 has afirst end 56 attached to the handle assembly 46 and has a second end 58attached to the pin 44. A heat shield 60 is attached to the handleassembly 46 and is positioned between the grip 52 and the perimeter wall14. The heat shield 60 is configured to minimize heat transfer from thehousing 12 to the grip 52. The grip 52 may be made of a heat insulatingmaterial such as wood or ceramic.

The perimeter wall 14 has a plurality of apertures 64. Each of theapertures 64 is configured to receive crumpled paper, wood or othercombustible material to ignite the charcoal positioned on the grate 36.The apertures 64 are positioned between the lower edge 20 and the grate36. The perimeter wall 14 also has a plurality of air holes 62 and eachof the air holes 62 is configured to allow airflow through the housing12. The air holes 62 are positioned between the grate 36 and the upperedge 16.

In use, crumpled paper or a similar substance is placed at the bottom ofthe fire starting assembly 10. The grate 36 is in its closed positionand charcoal, otherwise known also as charcoal briquettes, is placed ontop of the grate 36. The crumpled paper or other fuel is lit on firecausing the charcoal to ignite and burn. When the charcoal has achieveda temperature for cooking with, the pin 44 is disengaged allowing thegrate 36 to move to its open position and the fire starter assembly 10is lifted. The charcoal that is on the grate 36 falls directly to acooking apparatus such as a grill or a barbeque pit.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized thatthe optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodimentenabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials,shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, aredeemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and allequivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings anddescribed in the specification are intended to be encompassed by anembodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operationshown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of thedisclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used inits non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word areincluded, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded.

A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not excludethe possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless thecontext clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.

I claim:
 1. A fire starting assembly configured to receive and ignitecharcoal and to release the charcoal when the charcoal has a temperaturesuitable for usage while cooking, said fire starting assemblycomprising: a housing including a perimeter wall having an upper edgedefining an upper opening and a lower edge defining a lower openingextending into said housing, said perimeter wall having front wall, rearwall, a first lateral wall and a second lateral wall, said perimeterwall having an inner surface and an outer surface; a grate beingpivotally joined to said perimeter wall, said grate being positionednearer to said lower edge than said upper edge, an upper portion of saidhousing being defined between grate and said upper edge and a lowerportion of said housing being defined between said grate and said loweredge, said grate being positioned in a closed position intersecting alumen extending through said housing and through said openings definedby said upper and lower edges to hold charcoal and being positioned inan open position to release the charcoal; and a catch being releasablyengaged with said grate to retain said grate in said closed position,said catch being releasable from said grate such that said grate pivotsdownwardly toward said lower edge and through said lower opening todefine an open position.
 2. A fire starting assembly according to claim1, wherein said grate is in a horizontal orientation when said perimeterwall is vertically oriented and said grate is in said closed position,said grate is pivotally coupled to said first lateral wall and extendingto said second lateral wall when said grate is in said closed position.3. A fire starting assembly according to claim 1, further comprising ahandle assembly being attached to said outer surface of said perimeterwall, said handle assembly including an upper arm component, a lower armcomponent and a grip being attached to and extending between said upperand lower arm components.
 4. A fire starting assembly according to claim3, further comprising a heat shield being attached to said handleassembly and being positioned between said grip and said perimeter wall,said heat shield being configured to minimize heat transfer from saidhousing to said grip.
 5. A fire starting assembly according to claim 1,wherein said catch comprises a pin being positioned in an engagedposition extending through said perimeter wall and engages said grate toretain said grate in said closed position or in a disengaged positionhaving said pin removed from said perimeter wall and disengaged fromsaid grate.
 6. A fire starting assembly according to claim 5, whereinsaid pin is extendable through said second lateral wall and ispositioned under and abutted against said grate when said pin is in saidengaged position.
 7. A fire starting assembly according to claim 5,wherein said handle assembly is attached to said second lateral wallbetween said pin and said upper edge.
 8. A fire starting assemblyaccording to claim 5, wherein a tether has a first end attached to saidhandle assembly and having a second end attached to said pin.
 9. A firestarting assembly according to claim 1, wherein said perimeter walldefining a plurality of apertures, each of said apertures beingconfigured to receive crumpled paper to ignite the charcoal positionedon said grate, said apertures being positioned between said lower edgeand said grate.
 10. A fire starting assembly according to claim 1,wherein said perimeter wall defining a plurality of air holes, each ofsaid air holes being configured to allow airflow through said housing,said air holes being positioned between said grate and said upper edge.11. A fire starting assembly configured to receive and ignite charcoaland to release the charcoal when the charcoal has a temperature suitablefor usage while cooking, said fire starting assembly comprising: ahousing including a perimeter wall having an upper edge defining anupper opening and a lower edge defining a lower opening extending intosaid housing, said perimeter wall having front wall, rear wall, a firstlateral wall and a second lateral wall, said perimeter wall having aninner surface and an outer surface; a grate being pivotally joined tosaid perimeter wall, said grate being positioned nearer to said loweredge than said upper edge, an upper portion of said housing beingdefined between grate and said upper edge and a lower portion of saidhousing being defined between said grate and said lower edge, said gratebeing positioned in a closed position intersecting a lumen extendingthrough said housing and through said openings defined by said upper andlower edges to hold charcoal and being positioned in an open position torelease the charcoal, said grate being in a horizontal orientation whensaid perimeter wall is vertically oriented and said grate is in saidclose position, said grate being pivotally coupled to said first lateralwall and extending to said second lateral wall when said grate is insaid closed position; a catch being releasably engaged with said grateto retain said grate in said closed position, said catch beingreleasable from said grate such that said grate pivots downwardly towardsaid lower edge and through said lower opening to define an openposition, said catch comprising a pin being positioned in an engagedposition extending through said perimeter wall and engaging said grateto retain said grate in said closed position or in a disengaged positionhaving said pin removed from said perimeter wall and disengaged fromsaid grate, said pin being extendable through said second lateral walland being positioned under and abutted against said grate when said pinis in said engaged position; a handle assembly being attached to saidouter surface of said perimeter wall, said handle assembly including anupper arm component, a lower arm component and a grip being attached toand extending between said upper and lower arm components, said handleassembly being attached to said second lateral wall between said pin andsaid upper edge; a heat shield being attached to said handle assemblyand being positioned between said grip and said perimeter wall, saidheat shield being configured to minimize heat transfer from said housingto said grip; a tether having a first end attached to said handleassembly and having a second end attached to said pin; said perimeterwall defining a plurality of apertures, each of said apertures beingconfigured to receive crumpled paper to ignite the charcoal positionedon said grate, said apertures being positioned between said lower edgeand said grate; and said perimeter wall defining a plurality of airholes, each of said air holes being configured to allow airflow throughsaid housing, said air holes being positioned between said grate andsaid upper edge.